Plane Jigsaw Puzzle

ABSTRACT

A plane jigsaw puzzle has multiple plastic pieces with concavo-convex structures on side edges, where the plastic puzzle pieces are matched and connected to concavo-convex structures. A chamfer angle is set at the edge between pieces, and the height of the chamfer angle to the edge interface of the two adjacent pieces is from 5% to 50%. The contact area of the two opposite adjacent pieces is 95% to 50% of the contact area of the corresponding edges.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a jigsaw, and more particularly to aplane jigsaw puzzle that is made of plastic and may be firmly pieced byitself.

2. Description of Related Art

Jigsaw puzzles are playthings that consist of pieces that each piece hasrecessed or protruding engaging members formed thereon to engageadjacent pieces together. A conventional jigsaw puzzle has pieces madeof paper. Because of the paper material characteristics andmanufacturing processes, a contacting area between adjacent pieces isinsufficient to provide firm and stable connection therebetween.Therefore, the conventional jigsaw puzzle employs a flat frame having abottom supporting board to hold the completely pieced jigsaw puzzle.However, the additional frame increases a cost of the jigsaw anddisadvantages storing or carrying the jigsaw puzzle. Furthermore, theconfigurations and color tones of the frames and jigsaw puzzle assembledfrom the pieces are distinct and hard to match each other for harmoniousvisual effect. Another conventional jigsaw puzzle made of plastic issufficient rigid and firm to connect adjacent pieces together. However,sides of adjacent plastic pieces fully contact each other to provide aflat and smooth drawing instead of a pieced drawing with obvious pieceboundaries as shown by a conventional paper jigsaw puzzle. Therefore, avisual effect of the plastic jigsaw puzzle is not classical. Becauseplastic is harder and less deformable when compared to paper, highermanufacturing precision of the jigsaw puzzle is needed for successfullypiecing the jigsaw puzzle. Furthermore, piecing the plastic jigsawpuzzle easily clips and injures a user's fingers inadvertently so usingthe plastic jigsaw puzzle is not safe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to overcome the defectsof the prior art and provide a plane jigsaw puzzle that has advantagesof self-connection, lower manufacturing precision requirement, beautifulappearances and is made of safe plastic.

The present invention is achieved according the following technologies.

A plane jigsaw puzzle in accordance with the present invention comprisesa jigsaw formed by assembling multiple plastic-made pieces together andadjacent plastic-made pieces connected together through protruding andnotched engaging members formed therebetween and engaging each other.The plane jigsaw puzzle is characterized in that each plastic-made piecehas a front surface and a chamfer edge formed adjacent the top surfaceand having a height being 5% to 50% of a height of a contacting areabetween adjacent plastic-made pieces. The contacting area of the twoopposite adjacent pieces is 95% to 50% of the contacting area of thecorresponding edges. To achieve great fastening effects, the contactingarea of the two opposite adjacent pieces is 60% to 80% of the contactingarea of the corresponding edges. A best contacting area rate is 75%. Theplane jigsaw puzzle increases a contacting area between adjacent pieces,improves the connection of the pieces and is assembled withoutadditional fastening devices. The plane jigsaw puzzle has the chamferedge being a rounded chamfer edge to provide classical visual effect.The assembled plane jigsaw puzzle has similar feel of a conventionaljigsaw puzzle. Furthermore, an user may identify obverse and reversesides of the pieces by the rounded chamfer edges, especially when thepieces are translucent. The rounded chamfer edges also decrease deckleedges of the plastic-made pieces during manufacturing processes andtherefore increase the safety of using the plane jigsaw puzzle. When theplane jigsaw puzzle is assembled, rounded chamfer edges allow moredeformation and larger operational space between adjacent pieces andlowers the manufacturing precision requirement of the pieces.

The plane jigsaw puzzle further comprises an outer frame mounted aroundthe jigsaw and assembled from multiple frame segments, wherein adjacentframe segments are connected through protruding and notched engagingmembers formed therebetween and engaging each other to form the outerframe.

In the plane jigsaw puzzle, each frame segment of the outer frame has aninside edge and at least one protruding or notched engaging memberformed on the inside edge respectively engaging at least one protrudingor notched engaging member that is formed on an adjacent piece of thejigsaw for improving the structures and harmonize the configurations ofthe plane jigsaw puzzle. In the plane jigsaw puzzle, each frame segmenthas two sides and two sets of at least one protruding or notchedengaging member formed respectively on the sides and respectivelyengaging the sets of adjacent frame segments.

In the plane jigsaw puzzle, each frame segment of the outer frame has adecoration bar covering the at least one protruding or notched engagingmembers on the inside edge of the frame segment and covering the atleast one protruding or notched engaging member of an adjacent piecethat respectively engages that of the frame segment for beautifulpurposes.

In the plane jigsaw puzzle, the outer frame further has a fastenerconnecting the frame segments together to prevent inadvertentdeformation and facilitate suspending the plan jigsaw puzzle. In theplane jigsaw puzzle, the fastener has multiple mounting slots andreinforcing bars, the mounting slots are defined respectively in bottomsof the frame segments and each reinforcing bars are mounted in andthrough more than one of the mounting slots to connect the framesegments together. The reinforcing bars may be made of plastic or metal.

In the plane jigsaw puzzle, the outer frame has an anti-skid textureformed on a top surface and an outer surface of the outer frame tofacilitate handholding or moving the plane jigsaw puzzle.

The present invention increases contacting areas between adjacent piecesso that the pieces may be connected together by themselves and will notinadvertently disassemble when moving. Furthermore, the outer frame withthe fastener is mounted around the jigsaw of the pieces for aestheticpurposes and facilitates moving. The outer frame assembled from theframe segments facilitates carrying the plane jigsaw puzzle, matches thejigsaw and having decoration bars to make the plane jigsaw puzzlebeautiful.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is perspective view of a conventional jigsaw puzzle in accordancewith the prior art;

FIG. 2 is an operational side view of a cutter cutting a paperboard formanufacturing the conventional jigsaw puzzle;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional frame for holding theconventional jigsaw puzzle;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a jigsaw of aplane jigsaw puzzle in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional side view of the jigsaw of the plane jigsawpuzzle of the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an exploded top perspective view of an outer frame of theplane jigsaw puzzle of the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is an exploded bottom perspective view of the outer frame of theplane jigsaw puzzle in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a partially exploded top perspective view of the jigsaw andouter frame of the plane jigsaw puzzle of the first embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a bottom perspective view of the plane jigsaw puzzle of thefirst embodiment showing that the jigsaw and outer frame are assembledcompletely;

FIG. 10 is a partially exploded bottom perspective view of the planejigsaw puzzle of the first embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a top perspective view of the complete plane jigsaw puzzle ofthe first embodiment;

FIG. 12 is an exploded top perspective view of an outer frame of asecond embodiment of the plane jigsaw puzzle in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 13 an exploded bottom perspective view of the outer frame of theplane jigsaw puzzle in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a partially exploded top perspective view of the jigsaw andouter frame of the plane jigsaw puzzle of the second embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a bottom perspective view of the complete plane jigsaw puzzleof the second embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a partially exploded bottom perspective view of the planejigsaw puzzle of the second embodiment; and

FIG. 17 is a top perspective view of the complete plane jigsaw puzzle ofthe second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The following descriptions are accompanied with the aforementionedattached drawings to explain the present invention.

With reference to FIG. 1, a conventional jigsaw puzzle 1′ is assembledfrom pieces that each piece has an outer edge and notched or protrudingΩ-shaped engaging members. The jigsaw puzzle has a drawing formed on onesurface thereof. With further reference to FIG. 2, the jigsaw puzzle 1′is made of paper. During manufacturing processes, a cutter 7 is used tostamp and cut a paperboard to form a jigsaw puzzle as shown in FIG. 1.The paper jigsaw puzzle 1′ has a small contacting area between adjacentpieces. A main connection between adjacent pieces is engaging thenotched and protruding Ω-shaped engaging members to prevent the jigsawpuzzle from transversely disassembling inadvertently. Because nosupporting force is applied to and holds the jigsaw puzzle F along adepth direction thereof, the jigsaw puzzle 1′ cannot be moved withoutfurther assistance. With further reference to FIG. 3, to move or suspendthe jigsaw puzzle 1′, an outer frame 3′ is used to hold the whole jigsawpuzzle 1′. However, using the outer frame 3′ is inconvenient and theconfigurations and color tones of the outer frame 3′ and the jigsawpuzzle 1′ are not matching.

Therefore, the present invention provides a plane jigsaw puzzle and thefollowing examples are presented to explain such plane jigsaw puzzle.

First Embodiment

With reference to FIG. 4, a first embodiment of the plane jigsaw puzzle1 comprises a jigsaw having multiple pieces. The pieces are detachablyconnected and assembled together to form the jigsaw puzzle and eachpiece has an outer edge and multiple Ω-shaped notched or protrudingengaging members. Adjacent pieces are connected through the notched orprotruding Ω-shaped engaging members to prevent inadvertent transversedisassembly. With reference to FIG. 5, each piece has a top surface andmultiple side surfaces. A contacting area 2 between adjacent pieces ofthe plane jigsaw puzzle 1 is 75% of an area of one side surface of eachpiece. A height h of the contacting area 2 is ¾ of a height H of eachpiece. A chamfer edge may be a rounded chamfer edge, is formed adjacentthe top surface, may be formed between the top surface and sidessurfaces of each piece. A height of the chamfer edge is 5% to 50% of theheight h of the contacting area of adjacent pieces. Because thecontacting area greatly increases when compared to that of aconventional jigsaw puzzle, connection between adjacent pieces isimproved. The assembled plane jigsaw puzzle 1′ is structurally firmwithout additional holding devices. The pieces are made of durableplastic to ensure repeating uses without decreasing the contacting area2 of adjacent pieces so that the plane jigsaw puzzle 1′ is structurallystable. The chamfer edge of the pieces makes the complete plane jigsawpuzzle 1′ show classical visual effect, facilitates recognizing obverseand reverse sides of the piece and prevents deckle edges.

With further reference to FIG. 6, the plane jigsaw puzzle 1 furthercomprises an outer frame 3 that is rectangular, assembled from multipleframe segments and mounted around the jigsaw. Each frame segment hasconnecting members. The frame segments are classified into corner framesegments 31 and linear frame segments 32, 33. Each corner frame segment31 has a top, a bottom, two side edges, a protruding Ω-shaped engagingmember 311 and a Ω-shaped notched engaging member 312. The protrudingand notched Ω-shaped engaging members 311, 312 are formed respectivelyon the side edges. Each linear frame segment 32, 33 is connecteddetachably to an adjacent corner frame segment 31 or linear framesegment 32, 33 and has a top, a bottom, two opposite side edges, aninside edge and three Ω-shaped engaging members 321, 322, 323. TheΩ-shaped engaging members 321, 322, 323 are formed respectively on theside edges and inside edge of the linear frame segment 32, 33 and may beprotruding or notched. The protruding or notched Ω-shaped engagingmember 321, 322 on each side edge of the linear frame segment 32, 33engages that of an adjacent corner or linear frame segment 31, 32, 33.The protruding or notched Ω-shaped engaging member 323 on the insideedge engages that of an adjacent piece. The corner frame segments 31 andlinear frame segments 32, 33 are connected to form the rectangular outerframe 3. The protruding or notched Ω-shaped engaging member on theinside edge of the linear frame segment 32, 33 engages one protruding ornotched Ω-shaped engaging member of an adjacent piece of the jigsaw.With further reference to FIG. 8, the assembled jigsaw may combine theassembled outer frame 3 through the protruding or notched Ω-shapedengaging members 323 on the inside edges of the linear frame segments32, 33 and those of the pieces to form the plane jigsaw puzzle 1.

With further reference to FIGS. 7, 9 and 10, the outer frame 3 furtherhas a fastener connecting the corner and linear frame segments 31, 32,33 together. The fastener may be multiple mounting slots 4 and multiplereinforcing bars 5. Each of the corner and linear frame segments 31, 32,33 further has a mounting slot 4 defined in the bottom thereof. Themounting slots 4 of the corner and linear frame segments 31, 32, 33communicate with one another. The reinforcing bars 5 are made of plasticor metal and are mounted in and through more than one of thecommunicating mounting slots 4 to connect the corner and linear framesegments 31, 32, 33 together and structurally strengthen the outer frame3. With further reference to FIG. 11, the jigsaw, outer frame 3 andreinforcing bars 5 are assembled together to form the plane jigsawpuzzle 1 without additional holding devices such as bottom supportingboards. The assembled plane jigsaw puzzle 1 is structurally firm andfacilitates movement and suspension thereof. Furthermore, the outerframe 3 may further have an anti-skid texture 34 formed on a top surfaceand an outer surface of the outer frame to facilitate handholding ormoving the plane jigsaw puzzle 3.

Second Embodiment

With reference to FIGS. 12 to 17, a second embodiment of the planejigsaw puzzle is similar to the first embodiment and further hasmultiple decoration bars 6 to cover the protruding or notched Ω-shapedengaging members of the outer frame 3 and those of the pieces thatengage each other. Each linear frame segment 32, 33 has a decoration bar6. The decoration bar 6 is formed on the linear frame segment 31, coversthe protruding or notched Ω-shaped engaging member 323 on the insideedge and covers the protruding or notched Ω-shaped engaging member of anadjacent piece engaging the Ω-shaped engaging member 323 on the insideedge. Each corner frame segment 31 has an inside edge, multipleprotruding and/or notched Ω-shaped engaging members 313, 314 and adecoration bar 6. The protruding and/or notched Ω-shaped engagingmembers 313, 314 are formed on the inside edge and respectively engagethose of adjacent pieces. The decoration bar 6 is formed on the cornerframe segment 31, covers the protruding and/or notched Ω-shaped engagingmembers 313, 314 of the inside edge and covers the protruding or notchedΩ-shaped engaging members of an adjacent piece respectively engaging theΩ-shaped engaging members 313, 314 of the inside edge, as shown in FIGS.15 and 16. After the plane jigsaw puzzle 1 is assembled completely asshown in FIG. 17, the engaged Ω-shaped engaging members of the outerframe 3 and pieces are hidden under the decoration 6 for aestheticpurposes.

The present invention is not limited by the aforementioned twoembodiments, any configurations increasing the contacting area betweenadjacent pieces to fasten the plane jigsaw puzzle are included in thescope of the present invention to be protected.

1. A plane jigsaw puzzle comprising a jigsaw formed by assemblingmultiple plastic-made pieces together and adjacent plastic-made piecesconnected together through protruding and notched engaging membersformed therebetween and engaging each other, the plane jigsaw puzzlecharacterized in that: each plastic-made piece has a front surface and achamfer edge formed adjacent the top surface and having a height being5% to 50% of a height of a contacting area between adjacent plastic-madepieces.
 2. The plane jigsaw puzzle as claimed in claim 1, wherein thechamfer edge is a rounded chamfer edge.
 3. The plane jigsaw puzzle asclaimed in claim 1 further comprising an outer frame mounted around thejigsaw and assembled from multiple frame segments, wherein adjacentframe segments are connected through protruding and notched engagingmembers formed therebetween and engaging each other to form the outerframe.
 4. The plane jigsaw puzzle as claimed in claim 3, wherein eachframe segment of the outer frame has an inside edge and at least oneprotruding or notched engaging member formed on the inside edgerespectively engaging at least one protruding or notched engaging memberthat is formed on an adjacent piece of the jigsaw.
 5. The plane jigsawpuzzle as claimed in claim 4, wherein each frame segment has two sidesand two sets of at least one protruding or notched engaging memberformed respectively on the sides and respectively engaging the sets ofthe at least one protruding or notched engaging member of adjacent framesegments.
 6. The plane jigsaw puzzle as claimed in claim 5, wherein eachframe segment of the outer frame has a decoration bar covering the atleast one protruding or notched engaging members on the inside edge ofthe frame segment and covering the at least one protruding or notchedengaging member of an adjacent piece that respectively engages that ofthe frame segment.
 7. The plane jigsaw puzzle as claimed in claim 3 or 4or 5 or 6, wherein the outer frame further has a fastener connecting theframe segments together.
 8. The plane jigsaw puzzle as claimed in claim7, wherein the fastener has multiple mounting slots and reinforcingbars, the mounting slots are defined respectively in bottoms of theframe segments and each reinforcing bar is mounted in and through morethan one of the mounting slots to connect the frame segments together.9. The plane jigsaw puzzle as claimed in claim 3 or 4 or 5 or 6, whereinthe outer frame has an anti-skid texture formed on a top surface and anouter surface of the outer frame.